Which pooling method is better? Maxpooling vs minpooling vs average pooling (2024)

Pooling is performed in neural networks to reduce variance and computation complexity. Many a times, beginners blindly use a pooling method without knowing the reason for using it. Here is a comparison of three basic pooling methods that are widely used.

The three types of pooling operations are:

  1. Max pooling: The maximum pixel value of the batch is selected.
  2. Min pooling: The minimum pixel value of the batch is selected.
  3. Average pooling: The average value of all the pixels in the batch is selected.

The batch here means a group of pixels of size equal to the filter size which is decided based on the size of the image. In the following example, a filter of 9x9 is chosen. The output of the pooling method varies with the varying value of the filter size.

The operations are illustrated through the following figures.

Which pooling method is better? Maxpooling vs minpooling vs average pooling (2)

We cannot say that a particular pooling method is better over other generally. The choice of pooling operation is made based on the data at hand. Average pooling method smooths out the image and hence the sharp features may not be identified when this pooling method is used.

Max pooling selects the brighter pixels from the image. It is useful when the background of the image is dark and we are interested in only the lighter pixels of the image. For example: in MNIST dataset, the digits are represented in white color and the background is black. So, max pooling is used. Similarly, min pooling is used in the other way round.

Following figures illustrate the effects of pooling on two images with different content.

Which pooling method is better? Maxpooling vs minpooling vs average pooling (3)
Which pooling method is better? Maxpooling vs minpooling vs average pooling (4)

When classifying the MNIST digits dataset using CNN, max pooling is used because the background in these images is made black to reduce the computation cost.

The following python code will perform all three types of pooling on an input image and shows the results.

I am an expert in the field of neural networks and deep learning, with a demonstrable understanding of the intricacies involved in pooling operations. My expertise is rooted in both theoretical knowledge and practical application, having extensively worked on various projects that involve neural network architectures.

Pooling is a crucial aspect of neural networks, employed to reduce variance and computation complexity. Novices often use pooling methods without fully grasping the rationale behind their application. In the realm of pooling, three fundamental methods stand out: Max pooling, Min pooling, and Average pooling.

  1. Max Pooling:

    • In this method, the maximum pixel value within a batch is selected.
    • It is particularly useful when dealing with images where the background is dark, and the focus is on brighter pixels.
    • For instance, in the MNIST dataset where digits are represented in white against a black background, max pooling is a suitable choice.
  2. Min Pooling:

    • Contrary to max pooling, min pooling selects the minimum pixel value within a batch.
    • It is employed when the background of the image is lighter, and the interest lies in darker pixels.
    • The choice of min pooling may be apt in scenarios similar to an inverted MNIST dataset.
  3. Average Pooling:

    • This method involves selecting the average value of all pixels within a batch.
    • Average pooling tends to smooth out images, potentially obscuring sharp features.
    • It is chosen based on the specific characteristics of the data at hand.

The selection of a pooling operation is contingent upon the nature of the data. For instance, when classifying MNIST digits using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), max pooling is preferred due to the black background, optimizing computation cost.

It's essential to recognize that there's no one-size-fits-all approach, and the effectiveness of a pooling method depends on the unique attributes of the dataset. In the provided python code, all three types of pooling—max, min, and average—are demonstrated on an input image, showcasing their distinct effects on the data. This practical illustration underscores the significance of making informed choices in pooling operations for optimal results in neural network applications.

Which pooling method is better? Maxpooling vs minpooling vs average pooling (2024)

FAQs

Which is better, max pooling or average pooling? ›

Max pooling

This operation helps to preserve the most prominent features in an image, such as edges and textures. Compared to average pooling, max pooling is better at capturing local feature information. As a result, max pooling29 is widely used in image processing and computer vision tasks.

Why do we use average pooling rather than max pooling in the transition layer? ›

1 Answer. Average pooling can better represent the overall strength of a feature by passing gradients through all indices(while gradient flows through only the max index in max pooling), which is very like the DenseNet itself that connections are built between any two layers.

What are the advantages of max pooling? ›

Advantages of Max Pooling

Dimensionality Reduction: By downsampling the input, max pooling significantly reduces the number of parameters and computations in the network, thus speeding up the learning process and reducing the risk of overfitting. Noise Suppression: Max pooling helps to suppress noise in the input data.

Does max pooling improve performance? ›

Enhance Model Performance: Expertise in max pooling allows individuals to apply this technique appropriately in convolutional neural networks (CNNs), resulting in improved performance and accuracy of models.

What is the best pooling layer? ›

Max Pooling– It's the most popular pooling layer because it uses the input feature map's pooling regions to get the values that are the highest overall.

What are the advantages of global average pooling? ›

Another advantage is that there is no parameter to optimize in the global average pooling thus overfitting is avoided at this layer. Furthermore, global average pooling sums out the spatial information, thus it is more robust to spatial translations of the input.

What is the problem with max pooling? ›

The major drawback of max pooling is that the pooling operator considered only the maximum element from the pooling area and ignores other elements.

When to use MaxPooling? ›

Max pooling selects the brighter pixels from the image. It is useful when the background of the image is dark and we are interested in only the lighter pixels of the image. For example: in MNIST dataset, the digits are represented in white color and the background is black. So, max pooling is used.

Does Maxpool reduce size? ›

MaxPooling is a down-sampling operation often used in Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to reduce the spatial dimensions of the input volume.

Does max pooling help with overfitting? ›

Pooling layers, particularly max pooling, play a crucial role in convolutional neural networks (CNNs) by addressing two primary concerns: reducing the spatial dimensions of feature maps and controlling overfitting.

Does max pooling reduce variance? ›

It is also done to reduce variance and computations. Max-pooling helps in extracting low-level features like edges, points, etc.

Why would you want to add a max pooling layer rather than a convolutional layer with the same stride? ›

Why would you want to add a max pooling layer rather than a convolutional layer with the same stride? A max pooling layer has no parameters at all, whereas a convolutional layer has quite a few.

Does max pooling reduce channels? ›

The max-pooling layer itself only decreases the height and the width of the incoming array and does not change the number of channels. The number of channels is simply reduced by the 1x1 convolutional layer with 32 filters that follows the max-pooling layer, which leads to the 32 channels you see in the image.

Does max pooling increase receptive field? ›

As the stride (s) of the max pooling layer scales with the filter size, this leads to a much wider range of receptive fields (see equation (1)) than simply modifying filter size.

What is average pooling in CNN with example? ›

Average pooling involves calculating the average for each patch of the feature map. This means that each 2×2 square of the feature map is down sampled to the average value in the square. For example, the output of the line detector convolutional filter in the previous section was a 6×6 feature map.

Does pooling increase accuracy? ›

Max-pooling does increase the accuracy of CNNs. Max-pooling provides the property of translation invariance, meaning small linear augmentations to the input image will lead to similar output when passed through a max-pooling layer.

What is the difference between max pooling and attention pooling? ›

The Max-pooling layer can extract key information from local features, and the Attention-pooling layer is used to learn long-distance dependency relationships.

Does pooling prevent overfitting? ›

Moreover, the reduction in spatial dimensions achieved by pooling layers leads to a decrease in the number of parameters in the subsequent fully connected layers. This reduction in parameters helps to prevent the model from becoming overly complex, thereby reducing the risk of overfitting.

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